Tag Archive: Thanksgiving

I wanted to share this beautiful traditional prayer to Ngai, The Kikuyu God of the Mountain. It has been translated to English from Kikuyu. The first time I read this I pondered the question: Did salvation come with the missionaries who brought us the Word of God, or were we, in our own way, already saved? I will leave it to the readers to decide after reading the prayer:

We often wonder why others don’t see things the way we do. We’re often able to analyse and solve a problem faced by someone else in a jiffy. Does God wonder why we don’t see things the way he does?

God has given us all we need for the stage at which we are in life. He has given us his Spirit to be our guide and teacher in the use of these things. Does he get tired of our complaints and dissatisfaction with our lives?

God created us to love and serve him in this life, so we can be happy with him in the next. He loves us so much that he allowed us to brutally murder his only son, so that we would live. Does he ever wonder why he bothered?

He gave us trees, oceans, birds, animals and people, so that we can see him in the things he created. He made them one by one and took care of even the details we shall never see. Will he, one day, get tired of our abusing his creation and take it all back?

Let’s imagine that God is the rich widow next door, and we are the poor neighbours. She’s always been quiet, polite and kind. Since she has so much, and she’s so generous anyway, we tap her electricity, water, satellite TV and wi-fi without asking her permission, thanking her or even offering to split the bill. For how long do we think she will let this go on?

Yes, God is not a rich widow. We do not need to make any illegal connections to tap into his goodness. So what’s stopping us from experiencing that goodness? That’s a question that only you can answer for yourself.

I’ve heard this said so many times that sometimes I find myself switching off even before the end of the first line. Now why would I want to switch off, yet that statement is so loaded with meaning? Could it be that it sounds like a nursery rhyme and is a bit too simplistic for my “mature” mind? Could it be that this mind which I think is “mature” is actually too undeveloped to fully grasp how good God is? Could it be that in God’s dictionary, good is defined in the whole of creation, yet in mine, the definition takes up two lines of a two inch column?

So exactly how good is God? And what exactly does his goodness mean? I shall not even attempt to answer that in one sentence, because now I realise that it would be fruitless – it would never work. Now I admit that my mind is indeed too small to understand the full extent of God’s goodness all at once, so I can only try to break it down into manageable ideas. Here we go.

My life is a blank piece of paper...any mark on that paper is either written by God, or He has allowed someone to write on it.

My life is a blank piece of paper, like the one used to make photocopies. Not even a single line on it like in a notebook, but completely blank. Any mark on that paper is either written by God, or he has allowed someone to write on it. Long before I’m even conceived, he draws out an elaborate map of the path he wants my life to take. He plots every twist and turn with accuracy that makes a Google map look like a child’s colouring. He maps out the timing of each event with more accuracy than NASA equipment. In short, everything that happens to me, he has either done himself or has allowed it to be done.

If God is so powerful, why does he not punish the people who are funding genocides, political violence and destruction of the environment?

Which leads to other questions. If he’s so good and only wants the best for me, then why are bad things happening all around me? Why are two year old girls being raped by HIV positive men? Why are babies dying of cancer before they can even walk? Why would a God who is so good allow a woman who has dedicated her life to serving him give birth to four children who are all blind? If God is so powerful, why does he not punish the people who are funding genocides, political violence and destruction of the environment?

Maybe one day, my small, simple, undeveloped mind will understand that God is so good, that he’s also good to the people we consider bad. He’s so good, that he gives us all an equal chance to do good and tell others about his goodness. He’s so good, that he forgives us whenever we mess up, but apologize and make a sincere effort not to mess up again. Even when we’re hurting others by polluting the environment, borrowing our friends’ partners, neglecting our families or exploiting those who cannot stand up for themselves, God still gives us a chance to make good our messes.

Evidence of God's goodness...

Doesn’t this God sound too good to be true? To some extent, doesn’t he sound like he can’t decide if he wants a world that’s good or bad? Maybe one day when my mind opens up enough to understand God’s goodness I’ll be able to answer that question. In the meantime, I’ll just bask in all the good things that happen to me.

If I get home today in one piece, that’s his goodness.

If I wake up tomorrow and can still breathe, that’s his goodness.

If tomorrow, I find even one thing to laugh about, that’s his goodness.

If I have enough hope to make plans for next week, that’s his goodness.

If I can have the audacity to question his goodness, that’s definitely his goodness.

Let my life song sing to you Lord. This ought to be the daily anthem of all Christians. The lyrics of this song are heartfelt and hold deep meaning; our life song does not only refer to prayer life and attending church, our life song is the drive behind all that we do. Be it at work, at home, in the presence of our friends, wherever we are, our words, actions and motivation in all we do should give praise to our awesome God. I love the way this song points out that we can never repay God for all he has done, the most we can do, is live a lifestyle that brings glory and honor to His name. We do not receive His mercy because of our efforts but we receive it because of his overwhelming grace. I pray that you may comprehend the meaning behind this amazing song and hopefully it may transform your perspective of your daily business….